Charlton Comics was – in many ways – a strange outlier to DC and Marvel, with a company history too interesting and complicated to go into here. They did have some great material, marred though it was by low-quality printing and inconsistent distribution. Thankfully, there are a number of decent art scans of original covers and interior pages to explore what might have been.

Many of the items here are process posts showing recolouring. Largely utilising scans of original art, I restore art when it needs it, and re-create logos and other trade dress. Some pieces have their originally-published colour schemes reconstructed and a version with new colour.

While most pieces are of vintage material, I bring my design, colouring and production skills to commissioned art as well. Check out the Production Services page.

Flash Gordon was created by Alex Raymond. It first appeared in newspapers in early 1934, and was a competitor to Buck Rogers which pre-dated it by a few years.
Flash has been adapted to serials, movies and comic books, and is one of the enduring characters of its era.Read more

Charlton Comics produced some good The Phantom comics, usually assigning one of their better artists to it. After Jim Aparo left for DC Comics, Pat Boyette stepped in and added his clear rendering and unique design style to the deep woods adventurer.

Jungle Jim was a comic strip created by Alex Raymond and Don Moore, debuting in 1934 as a safari-suit-wearing adventurer. He crossed over into serials, movies, television and comic books. Charlton had the comic book license in 1969/70, producing issue nos. 22–28, continuing Dell Comics' numbering.

Charlton Bullseye was a late entry with new content from Charlton Comics. Unlike the previous Bullseye – started as a fanzine in the 1970s – the second volume was an anthology which gave new talent a chance to be published. It ran for 10 issues before it was cancelled.

Back in the late 1950s Charlton Comics thought they'd save some time and money by outfitting a variable typewriter – a Vari-Typer, which was large enough to hold a page of comic art – with a custom typeface which mimicked the hand lettering used in comics for captions and word balloons.

From Charlton Comics in August 1958, a great example of the fear prevalent in pop science fiction of the day.There you are steering your way through interstellar space, and all of a sudden, a big freaking hand. All aboard!Read more

From Charlton Comics in October 1958, Rocco Mastroserio illustrates a more aggressive idea of what space exploration can be. Thrusting into the void, vapourising a threat and worshipping the glowing bean stalk. All hail the bean stalk!

I really like the composition of this cover by Charles Nicholas and Vincent Alascia, and thought it could be something more than what it was. As published, you don't get the feel of the canyons or the atmosphere of the old west, and the title is slapped on with a different colour behind it.

Rocco Mastroserio was a mainstay at Charlton Comics in the 50s and 60s. In a style similar to colleague Dick Giordano's - but more organic than Giordano's commercial slickness – he produced many memorable pieces. This superb illustration is from December 1957.

The second Blue Beetle was given his powers by the spirit of a Pharaoh through the blue beetle scarab, appearing in ten issues of his own magazine beginning in 1964. He wasn't a hit and was supplanted by the third Beetle Ted Kord in 1966, created by Steve Ditko.

One of my favourite Dick Giordano Charlton covers is this issue from 1958. The machinery is reminiscent of Wally Wood's, and the astronaut figure is classic Giordano. I sometimes think the alien is saying, "I will name him George, and I will hug him, and pet him…"

With this cover for the unpublished Captain Atom No. 90, the art by Steve Ditko is in very good condition, but the logos are in poor condition. Pieces are missing, some are damaged, and there are dropouts of fine lines from the production process. Another one Charlton left unpublished, to be later included in The Charlton Bullseye, Volume 1, Nos. 1 and 2. Also collected by DC in The Action Heroes Archive 2.

Blue Beetle No. 6 never saw print as a comic. Why Charlton would leave a full comic sitting on the shelf is beyond me. It eventually surfaced in CPL No. 9/10 (aka The Charlton Portfolio), and DC included it in the The Action Heroes Archive 2.

As Charlton Comics' managing editor in the 1960s, Dick Giordano, put together the Action Heroes line with talents that included Joe Gill, Steve Ditko, Pete Morisi, Pat Boyette, Frank Mclaughlin and others. Charlton was petering out in the mid 80s, so DC bought the rights to those characters and presented them to Giordano – now DC's executive editor – as a gift.

We conclude the Out of This World run with another Steve Ditko cover. No. 16 from December 1959, does indeed have Ditko art on it, but it was made from interior panels by Charlton Comics' production staff as a cost-saving measure. No new art, no new fee paid to Ditko.

The Ovoid – a big stiff – came to kill, but who knows about Xondu? Bill Molno returns to the cover of Out of This World after starting off the series with Nos. 1 and 2. Inked by Vince Alascia. October 1959, Charlton Comics.

In a switch from previous covers, Charles Nicholas and Vince Alascia show three of the issue's stories, a device used on the next two covers as well. Who knows who lives at 33 Oak Street? And will they mow their lawn more often? May 1959, Charlton Comics.

I felt bad for Steve Ditko on this one. His invaders from the Earth's core are about to be crushed by a tan starburst. Maybe it was intended to float over the diver's head. March 1959, Charlton Comics.

Jim Aparo is better known for his DC Comics work on such books as The Brave & the Bold, Aquaman and The Spectre. Just prior to moving over to DC, he was a regular artist on Charlton Comics' version of The Phantom.

Dick Giordano is one of my influences as a comic book artist. I only met him once at the San Diego Comicon in 1989, but back when I was a teenager in the early 80s writing letters to Batman comics, he was their editor, and he took the time to write a couple of short notes back to me. When I met him, he was at the helm during one of DC's best periods.